parliament - Lorry safety offences fall 49% with stiffer penalties
Straits Times, Published on Jan 19, 2012
By MARIA ALMENOAR
Photo caption: No workers died in the eight months after the new rules kicked in, compared with five in the eight months before. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
STIFFER penalties designed to protect workers transported on the backs of lorries seem to have had the desired effect.
The number of employers caught for flouting safety rules between February and September last year was 1,329.
This is 49 per cent lower than the 2,601 caught in the eight months before the stiffer rules were implemented on Feb1 last year.
In Parliament yesterday, Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo gave an update on the effectiveness of the new rules while responding to questions by MP Alex Yam (Chua Chu Kang GRC).
Since February last year, all light lorries ferrying passengers in the back have been required to have canopies and higher side rails. Owners who do not comply can be fined up to $1,000 or jailed for up to three months.
The number of accidents involving workers in the backs of lorries was also down over the same period. There were five fatalities in the eight months before the new rules took effect, and none in the eight months after.
The number of injuries was also reduced, from 199 cases to 83 cases.
Mr Yam and MP Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon GRC) also asked if there were rules against employers ferrying workers to MRT stations or bus interchanges so they could then take public transport to work, and if this was adding to the already heavy load on public transport.
Mrs Teo replied that there were no restrictions against employers providing such transport.
'The very nature of public transport must mean that the public can use it. Whoever you are, working in Singapore, living in Singapore, whether you are a tourist, you can use public transport,' she said.
However, she added that the ministry did not encourage employers to overextend the use of public transport for foreign workers travelling between workplaces, and was open to working with businesses and MPs who had specific problems with this issue.
By MARIA ALMENOAR
STIFFER penalties designed to protect workers transported on the backs of lorries seem to have had the desired effect.
The number of employers caught for flouting safety rules between February and September last year was 1,329.
This is 49 per cent lower than the 2,601 caught in the eight months before the stiffer rules were implemented on Feb1 last year.
In Parliament yesterday, Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo gave an update on the effectiveness of the new rules while responding to questions by MP Alex Yam (Chua Chu Kang GRC).
Since February last year, all light lorries ferrying passengers in the back have been required to have canopies and higher side rails. Owners who do not comply can be fined up to $1,000 or jailed for up to three months.
The number of accidents involving workers in the backs of lorries was also down over the same period. There were five fatalities in the eight months before the new rules took effect, and none in the eight months after.
The number of injuries was also reduced, from 199 cases to 83 cases.
Mr Yam and MP Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon GRC) also asked if there were rules against employers ferrying workers to MRT stations or bus interchanges so they could then take public transport to work, and if this was adding to the already heavy load on public transport.
Mrs Teo replied that there were no restrictions against employers providing such transport.
'The very nature of public transport must mean that the public can use it. Whoever you are, working in Singapore, living in Singapore, whether you are a tourist, you can use public transport,' she said.
However, she added that the ministry did not encourage employers to overextend the use of public transport for foreign workers travelling between workplaces, and was open to working with businesses and MPs who had specific problems with this issue.
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